Chattanooga Christian School students and PE teachers will get an extra dose of play on Thursday, March 30 at Playground Day hosted by GameTime and Chattanooga Track Club. Students will be encouraged to take part in a Fun Run in addition to special PlayOn! activities that will be incorporated into the school’s GameTime playground equipment.
PlayOn! is a standards-based program that combines fun activities with a school’s GameTime playground to help children stay more active.
“We believe that promoting play and regular physical activity is a critical priority,” said Kent Callison, GameTime director of marketing communications. “CCS is a model school and we want to celebrate their teachers and students with a fun day of extra play.”
Chattanooga Track Club is a natural partner for the day as they are a local nonprofit whose mission is to promote running, walking, and fitness for all ages.
“Our organization is inclusive of everyone - young, old, runner, or walker. We just like to see people engaging in some sort of physical activity,” said Stacey Malecky, Chattanooga Track Club manager. “We love partnering with other organizations and businesses that share our same mission and look forward to seeing lots of kids outside having fun.”
The school will also be recognized as a National Demonstration Site for Youth Fitness. CCS has met the requirements for this designation that include providing all six essential elements of physical play and incorporating the PlayOn! Activity Guide into the school's lesson plans. PlayOn! is a standards-based curriculum developed by SHAPE America and PlayCore that includes 125 fun activities to extend PE classes onto the playground and keep students more active during play.
The six essential elements of physical play are swinging, sliding, climbing, balancing, spinning and brachiating (overhead climbing). GameTime utilizes the research and design guidelines found in PlayOn! to create playgrounds that address all six forms of play.
“I’m proud of our playground and our designation as a National Demonstration Site and hope we can be an example to other schools. It always makes me happy to see our playground full of kids having fun,” said CCS Lower School Principal Allison Barham. “And if you haven’t played on a playground in a while, you should because you will definitely get in lots of physical activity!”
Activities on Thursday will begin at 9 a.m. and last until 2 p.m. The City of Chattanooga will proclaim March 30 as Playground Day. Students, teachers, Chattanooga Track Club and GameTime staff will be onsite participating in playground events throughout the day.